A/N: Nothing to say except please read, and thanks for reviewing!
Disclaimer: See previous chapter(s).
**Note**
At Camp: Sunpool, Rageheart, Shadowflicker, Owlwings, Dovefeather and Featherwing.
At the Tower: Swift-Eyes, Shadowflame, Ripplestone, Mintyflower, Storm, Silver, Hawk and Shade.
With Loki: Duskstar, Fawnstep, Lilyfire, Larkwhisper, Ravenstrike, Bladeclaw, Sparrowflight, Hawkclaw, Echosong and Crow's Cry.
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Part 4: Interlude
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Swift-Eyes pushed into the Nursery, purring when Silver and Shade bounced right up with excited squeals. Hawk sat up in one of the nests, peering in her general direction with his milky blue eyes. "What's going on?" he asked, and Swift-Eyes smiled at him-unlike his excitable siblings, Hawk was always thinking before acting. "The senior warriors have decided that we should all go visit the Avengers for a while-myself, you kits, Storm, Shadowflame, and your parents." Shade paused, dark blue eyes eerie in the dim light of the den, the black rings seeming to pulse slightly. "Is something wrong? Is the camp in danger?" Swift-Eyes blinked, taken aback before answering honestly, "No, but there *could* be. But if you three don't want to visit the Avengers and meet the Guardians..."
The medicine cat apprentice had to suppress her purr at the kittens frantic assurances that yes, they wanted to meet the people from their Clan-mates stories, and of course they would like to see some aliens.
"Loki is an alien too!" Silver squeaked importantly. Hawk snorted. "He's a Clan-mate, so it doesn't count." Silver pouted, wide gold eyes reproachful, and Swift-Eyes couldn't stop her purr this time. "Settle down you three. Now come on, the others are waiting..."
The slim black she-cat turned carefully and led the way out, the fluffy silver she-kit and both gray tabby toms following quickly, Hawk's paw-steps sure in the familiar area as they emerged to find Featherwing saying good-bye to a tolerant Storm, and Mintyflower standing next to Ripplestone, anxiety practically pouring off of her. Swift-Eyes hurried over as Storm moved to join the kittens. "Mintyflower?" The queens silvery green eyes fixed on the medicine cat apprentice and she hissed, "Are we sure it's safe to take them? We don't even know these two-legs!" Swift-Eyes focused on sending a wave of calm to the empathic she-cat, assuring her with a nod at Ripplestone. "The kittens are perfectly safe with the two of you around, and the Avengers would also defend them if needed. Loki would have said something to Sunpool if they were dangerous enough that we couldn't handle it. Alright?"
Slowly the silver-and-white tabby settled, nodding and giving her fur a quick lick. Ripplestone leaned into the queen with a reassuring purr before beckoning to his kits, who quickly joined them along with Storm. Shadowflame padded over from where she had been chatting with Shadowflicker and Rageheart, angling her ears towards the group. "This will feel a little strange, but just keep moving forward and don't worry about it." Swift-Eyes clamped down at her own surge of uneasiness, not wanting to upset Mintyflower again, and in the next instant the world went black. The small she-cat felt a pulling sensation and she instinctively leaped forward as gravity yanked at her fur, and then she was standing in front of a bewildered looking male while Tony shrieked, "Will you stop doing that?!"
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To say Quill was unsettled, shocked, and freaked out by eight cats appearing out of nowhere after all the lights flickered and gravity gave a jump would be an understatement. The two she-cats in the lead turned to check on the others. The first was a dark gray tabby she-cat with jade green eyes and a strange black flame pattern starting at the center of her chest and flowing over her shoulders. The second was smaller, a black she-cat with white-tipped paws and tail, thin white lines on one shoulder forming an eye-like symbol.
"What in the...?" Stark-who Quill thought was an older, smarter, and more married version of himself-sighed in exasperation and said, "This is more of Loki's Clan. But I didn't know they could teleport or whatever without Loki."
"Well, I can and my sister, but not the others."
Quill flinched and stared down at the first cat, who had spoken. "Annnnd...you are?" Quill asked, unbothered by the fact it was a talking cat. He worked with Rocket and Groot, after all.
"My name is Shadowflame; this is Swift-Eyes-" The second she-cat nodded her head distractedly, busy soothing one of the cats at the back; only, now that Quill looked he realized it was actually a kitten. Huh. "This is Ripplestone and Mintyflower..." two silver tabby cats; the first was larger and more muscular, a tom with icy-blue eyes and a celtic-type circle of darker fur on his chest. The second was almost willowy, lighter than the other and with silvery-green eyes-a she-cat. Quill blinked when he spotted the trail of silvery flowers that started on her forehead and followed the line of her spine and up her tail. "This is Storm; she came along to help with the kittens..." a younger black she-cat with slightly canted yellow eyes, only a little smaller than Swift-Eyes. Quill heard heavy steps and saw Thor approach out of the corner of his eye; both groups were still sitting where they had been when Loki left, getting to know one another. Now the massive blonde crouched and addressed Shadowflame. "I do not remember there being any felines younger than Storm in your Clan." At this, Ripplestone padded forward. "Greetings, Thor. They are mine and Mintyflowers," he explained, fur puffing out slightly in pride. "They're cute," Quill noted, squinting down at the three balls of fur. One was a she-kit, with pale silver fur and large gold eyes. The two toms were both tabbies, though one was light gray and black and the other was dark gray and black. The lighter tom had pale, milky blue eyes that didn't seem to focus-this was the kitten Swift-Eyes had been soothing. The darker kitten had equally dark blue eyes, ringed in black.
"They are cute." Agreed a smooth voice, and Quill most certainly *did not* jump at the sudden appearance of the human assassin. "Jeez! Your worse than Gamora!" Quill grumbled, placing a hand over his racing heart. The kittens seemed to find this amusing, and relaxed, their spiked out fur smoothing down, and Quill realized that these kittens had to be at least five months old. Almost not kittens at all anymore.
"Can I pick them up?" Asked Thor hopefully. Ripplestone and Mintyflower hesitated, eyeing Thor's massive hands. "Ah..."
Before Thor had a chance to look crestfallen, Storm bounced over and stretched up. "You can pick me up!"
As the group settled back down, now with cats scattered amongst them-Quill pouted when the kittens swarmed Bruce, curling up on the scientists lap-Tony finally asked, "What are you guys doing here?" Swift-Eyes spoke up from where she was sitting next to Shadowflame. "Well, since Loki and the others are going to be bringing the third Stones vessel to our camp, we figured it might be safer for the kittens to be here, just in case." Natasha nodded in approval-she and Gamora where sitting on either side of Bruce, making the small man hunch into himself while they petted the kittens.
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Lilyfire felt her fur stand on end, and she shook her head to get rid of the ringing in her ears. "Traveling across Midgard's Galaxy is more disturbing than hopping Dimensions," she complained, squinting at what seemed to be a set of massive doors in front of her. Meows of agreement came from all sides, even as the warmer and differently shaped Loki approached said doors. Lilyfire couldn't quite make out what he did, but in the next moment the doors were opening. The room beyond seemed empty, except for what seemed like a wall of little cubbies at one end and six not-quite-human guards that seemed startled by the sudden of appearance of 'Nova Prime'. Loki strode into the room confidently, giving the guards a slight nod without breaking stride, heading straight for the honey-combed wall. Lilyfire shook her head, amused at how easy it was-a little shapeshifting, a bit of swagger, and no questions asked. The ginger she-cat followed the near-black shape that her nose identified as Duskstar after Loki, the cats making a sort of semi-circle perimeter, and keeping an eye on the oblivious guards. Out of the corner of her eye, Lilyfire noted Loki hesitate before moving to a cubbie at almost the perfect center of the wall. Another moment in which Lilyfire thought Loki might've passed some sort of scan, and then the cubbie was opening, the door rising vertically and allowing Loki to reach in and remove a sphere about the size of a human baseball. Lilyfire squinted at the object-it had the cool light and texture of metal, but beneath it was a darker and smaller shape that was the same space-black as Loki's normal two-leg form. Huh. Loki-as-Nova Prime turned on his heel and swaggered right back out of the room, the cats on his heels. Lilyfire couldn't help but feel sorry for the scolding they would be in for when the real Nova Prime showed up.
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TBC
